Writers and sites worth following

Mark DawsonMark practices what he preaches as an author who left a high-paying job to make the plunge into independent publishing. His thriller series about troubled British assassin John Milton is among the best in my favorite genre. Equally significant, Mark provides helpful publishing courses that guided me on creating a web site, beginning the baby steps as author-entrepreneur and generating a mailing list.

Jane FriedmanJane posts the most substantive advice for authors of any single writing site I have found. Get on her email list. I met her at the Midwest Writers' Conference one summer weekend in 2016. Subscribe to her mailing list and you will get a wealth of news, trends and tips in publishing.

Joanna Penn (The Creative Penn)Like Mark Dawson, Joanna is another British author who dared to leave a high-paid consulting job to pursue her passion as author. Her podcasts and interviews with other authors are invaluable. In addition to her novels, she has written several non-fiction books directed at authors exploring indie publishing.

Steve DemareeSteve is a friend and inspiration, building quite a successful career as an indie author. Among his many mysteries is the clean and funny detective series of two retired cops who are more likely to solve the best place to eat before solving whodunnit.

Kelsey Timmerman​Kelsey was the 2016 keynote speaker at the Midwest Writers' Conference where I met him. His two books traced the impoverished, shameful conditions where some of our food and clothing originate. His work on where our food comes from ties directly into the importance of supporting local farmers.

How Coben describes a scene

Harlan Coben is one of my favorite novelists. Sports agent Myron Bolitar seems to get himself into deep -- usually hilarious -- situations in this series of amateur detective/thriller/should-be dramedy novels.

Here are three of the best descriptions and scene-setters from Darkest Fear: A Myron Bolitar Novel: Read More